Information for New Parents

Orientation & Registration

Orientation & Registration is Augustana's one-day summer orientation program for incoming students. It gives students a chance to get to know the Augustana students, staff, and campus, and provides a time for students to register for their first term of classes.

Please plan to arrive on campus at about 8:30 a.m. and finishing up at about 4:30 p.m.

Preparing for the transition

After Orientation, there are a few details your student might want to address before arriving on campus. He or she will want to read the Augie Reads book, which is selected each year to be part of our campus-wide reading program for incoming students (and is also part of the LSFY 101 program). Your son or daughter might want to visit the College one more time on Saturday, August 8, from 10:00 a.m. to noon to inspect their new room and possibly meet their roommate during the Residential Life Open House.

In the meantime, we hope your son or daughter can enjoy what is often a memorable summer before the beginning of college. Major transitions like this are uncommon, and deserve to be savored in all their sweetness and sorrow.

Arriving on campus in the fall

While many students (athletes, international students, multicultural students) will arrive on campus before August 20, the first day of Welcome Week is the traditional beginning of the school year for First Year Students. Many parents will arrive on campus in the morning with their student to help move into the residential halls. Your family can then join us for a campus-wide picnic on the lower Quad. After eating and perhaps a short walk around campus, we will all move to Carver Center to begin officially the new school year at the Opening Convocation. Soon after the convocation, though, parents will begin to head home: it will be time for your son or daughter to begin their new life at Augustana!

Homecoming Weekend (Homecoming is set for October 16-18; more information will be available soon!)

Academics During the First Term

During the first term, all Augustana students will take 3 academic courses. For those familiar with a semester system, that might seem like a light load. But since these courses have the same content as a semester course, but last only about 2/3 as long, this is a significant amount of work.

The courses that your student signs up for will depend on a number of factors, including high school preparation and major and career goals. All students will sign up for either our Liberal Studies First Year program (LSFY 101) or a parallel Honors class (see the link below for details).

If you are concerned about the academic transition to college for your student, you might talk with him or her about our "Introduction to College Discourse" class. This one-on-one course requires a student to meet once a week with a faculty tutor in our Reading/Writing Center and once a week with a student tutor. The aim of the course is to help students (mostly first-year students) learn to navigate the college environment, and the course covers topics ranging from time-management and test preparation to writing skills. It's not for every student, but if your son or daughter is very anxious about college academics or has struggled in the past, particularly with writing or reading comprehension, "ENGL 111" (as we call it) might be helpful. Please contact the Director of First Year Advising, Mary Windeknecht, if you have questions or are interested in the class (309-794-8290).